One complaint heard about the 8×8 wheeled Stryker armored vehicles in Afghanistan was that they had difficulties with the rough, mountainous off-road terrain. The Canadian forces in particular found that their Strykers’ mobility limitations created unacceptable difficulties.

Another complaint about Stryker vehicles is that upgrades designed to address combat needs have been done in a piecemeal fashion. This has resulted in significant inefficiencies, including having to turn off some systems to operate others.

To address Stryker vehicle limitations and overcome the piecemeal approach to vehicle improvements, the US Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has undertaken a Stryker modernization program…

Rome Research Corporation (RRC), a New Hartford, NY-based subsidiary of PAR Technology, received a 5-year, $46 million contract for research and development, testing and evaluation expertise to operate the far-field antenna test ranges, anechoic chambers, and other laboratory facilities for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate.

RRC will also conduct exercises and training missions on AFRL fielded technologies in combat.

The AFRL Information Directorate operates a far-field antenna test range for evaluation of aircraft’s effects on antennas and airborne systems at its Newport, NY test site…

The US Air Force Research Laboratory awarded 6 contracts worth a combined $558 million for administrative and functional support, medical and biomedical research assistance, clinical and clinical hyperbaric medicine services, environmental bio-terrorism support, technology evaluation and research studies support services at Brooks City-Base, TX and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH.

Brooks City-Base is home to the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM), [pdf] which is a center for aerospace medical learning, consultation, aerospace medical investigations and aircrew health assessments. The school operates a hyperbaric medicine chamber, which exposes patients to large amounts of oxygen to enrich blood and increase the body’s ability to heal.

Fresh off of a 7-year contract with BAE Australia to maintain its S-70B-2 naval helicopters, Australia’s DoD is signing a shorter contract with the same firm to cover the Army’s S-70A Black Hawk fleet. The Black Hawks began service in 1986, and the 3-year, A$ 35 million ($31 million) S-70A maintenance contract has 5 one-year options that could extend the contract through to the helicopters’ expected withdrawal from service in 2017-2018.

Australia’s Black Hawks have been used domestically and in a number of international deployments, but their lack of full defensive systems has prevented deployment to dangerous conflict zones like Afghanistan…

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command awarded a $22.2 million firm-fixed-price task order under a multiple award construction contract to Barnhart in San Diego, CA for the renovation and repair of 2 single enlisted barracks – buildings 783 and 787 – at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, CA.

Naval Base Coronado is a consolidated US Navy installation including 8 military facilities stretching from San Clemente Island to the La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility, encompassing more than 57,000 acres. It is the largest command in the southwest region of the United States…

The Australian government recently announced a multi-year In Service Support contract to BAE Systems Australia Ltd., covering the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet of 16 S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopters. Australia’s naval S-70s contain features from the US Navy’s SH-60B and SH-60F Seahawks, and were delivered from 1988-1992. The new 7-year, A$ 208 million (currently $187 million) support contract begins in April 2010, and is expected to run until existing Seahawks are withdrawn from service. Extension options could lengthen that period, however; and there have been recent reports that the Australian DoD is recommending Sikorsky’s new MH-60R Seahawk as a successor, rather than Eurocopter’s NH90 NFH variant of the Australian Army’s new transport helicopters.

BAE’s ISS contract will provide engineering, maintenance, and some supply services. It’s expected to support 130 jobs in new expanded facilities at the Albatross Aviation Technology Park, located near the S-70B fleet’s base at HMAS Abatross in Nowra, New South Wales, as well as securing a number of industry positions in Nowra, Melbourne and Amberley. See also BAE Australia release.

Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit in Charlottesville, VA received a follow-on contract to provide performance-based logistics (PBL) support for navigation and steering systems installed on US Navy surface ships and submarines.

The contract was awarded by Naval Inventory Control Point in Mechanicsburg, PA exercising a 3-year option on a previously awarded 5-year PBL contract. The total value of the 3-year contract is $42 million…

Knik Construction Co. in Seattle, WA received a $30 million firm-fixed-price task order (#0012) under an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity paving and resurfacing construction contract for paving of the perimeter road at US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Founded in 1903, US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay is the oldest US base overseas. Located on the southeast corner of Cuba, in the Oriente Province, the base is about 400 air miles from Miami, FL…

The US Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake in California’s Mojave Desert is benefiting from a recommendation by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission to consolidate naval weapons and armament research, development and testing at the facility.